Cladding firm linked to Grenfell Tower fire stops global sales

The firm which supplied cladding believed to be responsible for the Grenfell Tower disaster has ended global sales for high-rise blocks.

Arconic announced on Monday afternoon that it would be discontinuing sales amid growing concern about the safety of its cladding following the blaze.

At least 79 people died in the disaster on Wednesday, June 14.

It is believed the Reynobond PE cladding was partly responsible for the blaze gutting the tower block.

A statement from the firm said: "Arconic is discontinuing global sales of Reynobond PE for use in high-rise applications.

"We believe this is the right decision because of the inconsistency of building codes across the world and issues that have arisen in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy regarding code compliance of cladding systems in the context of buildings' overall designs."

Coated in aluminium, the material has a plastic core which is suspected to have accelerated the spread of the deadly blaze.

The Government has confirmed that 60 high-rise buildings in 25 local authority areas have failed fire cladding safety tests, with the cladding already reportedly banned in some European countries.

On Friday night, about 4,000 people were evacuated from an estate in Camden after the local authority tested the cladding and found it to be unsafe.

Prime Minister Theresa May has asked local councils to speed up safety tests on tower blocks in the UK.

Housing minister Alok Sharma has called for thousands more people to be evacuated from tower blocks across the country in wake of the disaster.

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said Doncaster, Norwich, Stockton-on-Tees and Sunderland all had buildings that failed tests, while Manchester, Plymouth and Portsmouth have already been named.

On Monday, inquests were opened into the deaths of some of the victims of the blaze, including a five-year-old boy.